Ruddington’s first ever multi-storey car park is taking shape – with construction of the eco-friendly, four floor facility along Mere Way now well underway.
The new car park is being built for HR and payroll software and services firm MHR by regional construction firm Stepnell. Although it is for employee use only, plans to increase the workforce there to 700 people mean more parking space is now needed. The extension of no parking restrictions around Ruddington Fields Business Park last year by Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) has only exacerbated this situation.
Planning approval was granted last year after a slight reworking by Simon Gee Design to better fit the character of the wider business park – so the completed building will adopt the appearance of an office rather than a traditional multi-storey car park, as shown in the artist’s impression below.
The large crane now onsite, visible on Ruddington’s southern skyline, is being used to lower into place supporting beams and the pre-cast concrete sections of the structure, which incorporate matching bonded brickwork. Then a clear span steel frame clad roof structure will be added to finish it off. When complete, the £4.5 million car park will provide space for an additional 190 cars on the site and feature a ‘full cover solar panel array’ to power its own energy-efficient lighting plus a number of charging points for electric vehicles. The anticipated surplus energy will be fed back into the main business operations at the adjacent MHR premises.
Stepnell Construction and architects Simon Gee Design were also responsible for building nearby Wellington House, which opened in 2017, and for the recent £3 million refurbishment of Britannia House.
MHR chairman John Mills said: “Despite much economic uncertainty over the past three years, at MHR we have maintained a steady rate of investment and growth and expanded internationally with new offices in Ireland, the US and Singapore. Our continued success is creating new jobs for the East Midlands region and the development of our headquarters in Ruddington is part of our ongoing commitment to create a truly great place to work for our employees.”
MHR Property Manager Nigel Featherstone told RUDDINGTON.info that construction of the new car park is due to be completed by the end of May 2020.
